Quote:Boo succeeds where so many reporters have failed because she has given the people of the undercity the same time and attention they would have received had they been residents of the overcity. And it is to her credit that she never suggests policies for helping Annawadians out of poverty; her concern is how existing policies have affected them. Her superb sense of detail, her nuanced writing and her considerable empathy make Behind the Beautiful Forevers nothing short of a masterpiece.

one of the most prejudiced books on India has to be 'Mother India' by Katherine Mayo. Its pages are riddled with logical fallacies and all its ghastly generalizations would make any reasonable person cringe. Mahatma Gandhi likened it to a "drain inspector's report".